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<title>Birthday Aches by paint_chip_eater (blutabbycat)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29929716">Birthday Aches</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/blutabbycat/pseuds/paint_chip_eater'>paint_chip_eater (blutabbycat)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Crush, Best Friends, Birthday, Cute, Cute Ending, Flash Fic, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay, M/M, Nervous Shuichi Saihara, Nervousness, Pining, Relationship(s), Romance, Romantic Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:08:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29929716</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/blutabbycat/pseuds/paint_chip_eater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After his birthday, Shuichi still hasn't gotten the one gift he was hoping for. </p><p>A small, fluffy one-shot flash fic of Shuichi and Kaito.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Momota Kaito/Saihara Shuichi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>45</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Birthday Aches</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wrote this in about 2 or 3 hours, to bring me both out of a funk and to cheer me up a little bit. Saimota is my favorite pairing as of right now, and I really love thinking about their relationship. Also, yes, it's very cheesy. Sometimes we all need a little bit of cheese, though. :P<br/>I was considering saving this until September, when his actual birthday is, but I honestly can't wait that long. Please enjoy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kaito and Shuichi sat close to each other on the park bench, nearly huddling together to brace themselves against the brisk mid-autumn evening winds that whipped against their uncovered faces. </p><p> </p><p>“I know I’ve been saying it, but I really do hope you had a good birthday, Shuichi.” Kaito smiled warmly at his sidek- -No, his best friend. </p><p> </p><p>“I really, really did, Kaito.” Shuichi reflected warmly on the pleasures of the day, which included a party with the rest of his friends, of course, and then a final bit of time with his best friend, Kaito. “Thanks.” </p><p>“Don’t mention it. We’re friends, right?” Kaito gave Shuichi a smile, and slapped his back, causing Shuichi to move forward a little bit.</p><p>Although they both began walking through the park at sunset, the sun had long disappeared and been replaced with a full moon. Crickets chirped to call their mates in the large fields of grass, and although they were pretty deep in the park, the sounds of the city still wafted through the air, albeit distantly. Shuichi looked at Kaito, his face illuminated by soft moonlight, and felt the all too familiar feeling of yearning move through his body, like a wave. His chest ached. </p><p>Kaito had been there for him in some of his darkest times always comforting him and pushing him to do better and be better, no matter what. Before long, he had found himself knee-deep in a burning crush on Kaito, filled with a deep ache which he never had the courage to curb. </p><p>Kaito paused, and looked at Shuichi, who had practically been staring at him for the past 30 seconds. “Hey, Shuichi, are you okay?”</p><p>Shuichi broke out of his trance placed upon him by his train of thought. “Y- Yeah, Kaito, I just zoned out.” He felt his face flush, followed by a quick shameful turn of his head and his eyes towards the ground. </p><p>Kaito furrowed his brow slightly out of worry, and placed his hand on Shuichi’s shoulder, which sent electric pins and needles down Shuichi’s arm. </p><p>“Are you really okay?” Kaito asked. “Is there something up?”</p><p>Shuichi felt his face practically radiate heat. “I- I- Uhh…”</p><p>Shuichi felt disconnected from his body, watching what was happening. He normally did what he thought was a great job at hiding his crush, but it was almost like he couldn’t stop himself this time. Kaito looked at Shuichi with concern.</p><p>“You know you can tell me if something’s wrong, right?”</p><p>Those words rattled his ear drum, echoing inside of his head and nearly filling the entire space with how big those inconsequential words spoken by Kaito were. </p><p>Shuichi stammered. “Kaito, I need t- to tell you something.” The words simply fell out of his mouth, and as much as he could have tried to get them back in, he knew it would be a fruitless endeavor. </p><p>Kaito slightly cocked his head to the side, wondering what could have been so important that it elicited this kind of reaction. </p><p>Shuichi, realizing that he had already jumped into the deep end, took a deep breath, steadying his short nerves. “Kaito, I like you.”</p><p>Kaito breathed a slight sigh of relief. “Well, yeah, we’re friends, aren’t we?” </p><p>Shuichi put his palm to his face gently. “Not like that. Kaito, I like you. I really like you. I like you more than just as a friend.” He blushed, and looked at him. </p><p>Kaito’s brain felt like it was buffering, attempting to analyze a large set of data all at once. </p><p>“And I know that you don’t feel that way about me, but I apparently just couldn’t keep that in any more, and now…” </p><p>“What?” Kaito said, finally finishing buffering. </p><p>Shuichi felt a massive wave of embarrassment flow through him, like an electric shock that sent currents of energy through him. “Oh god, I knew how this was going to go, I knew exactly how you’d react and everything, this was a stupi-” Shuichi’s distraught speech was interrupted.</p><p>“Shuichi, hold on,” Kaito said warmly. “All I said was ‘what’.” </p><p>“Huh?” Shuichi questioned.</p><p>Kaito grinned a little bit and paused before answering. “Shuichi, I know. Well, I’ve known for awhile. You aren’t particularly good at hiding it,” he elaborated,  “And… I feel the same way.”</p><p>“You what?”</p><p>“I feel the same way, dude! I like you the same way.” Kaito declared</p><p>“Y- You do?” Shuichi said.</p><p>“Yes!” Kaito proclaimed. <br/>
 <br/>
Shuichi’s whole body practically seemed like it was melting, not only due to the relief he felt after his nerves were able to finally come down, but the overwhelming joy of knowing that his feelings were reciprocated. </p><p>They both looked at each other, both of them with wide smiles and both of them also blushing. </p><p>Kaito began to lean forward towards Shuichi, and Shuichi began to lean into Kaito, their faces and mouths meeting and forming into a kiss, one which made them feel like they were floating high above the atmosphere. In that moment, Shuichi felt as if he could have stayed there until his next birthday, just on that bench, with the boy who had finally come to feel for him too.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>[P.S.] I may come back to this later and expand upon it. Take it as it is for now.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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